With the sails drooping as the winds died down to nothing, the captain made a point to be seen standing afternoon watch on the main deck. Keiji peered carefully at both the official Imperial maps and some charts he had drawn up himself. Of course he knew exactly where they were; the navigational instruments had told them that already, after all. But it was important to be seen, and, despite his own unease at the sudden calm, to keep a confident attitude for the sake of the men.

It was hard not to sense the unease in the air (or the lack of the air in this case). Utsu had found it easier to help the time pass in the evening, telling stories to those who would listen as they ate their meals, but in the daytime it was more difficult to dispel the feeling of helplessnes over the entire situation.

But maintaining appearances was something she was quite good at, so never would it seem like to others that she was uncertain or worried over the situation. Some of her personal supply of tea would have to bear the brunt of easing the mood a little this afternoon, and along with the cook she made sure everyone got a generous cup of spiced tea.

Including the captain. "Kitsu-kancho, douzo*," she said politely, placing the cup beside him.

"Ah, it is one from my own set," she smiled pleasantly, a little happy to see that the captain too was in need of some culture to take his mind off the situation. "A gift from my grandmother when I was to begin my schooling. It was made by one of the artisans in my father's employ in Hayaku Mura... their family has a long tradition of pottery-work."

"The tea is also not from the stores," she added with a playful smile. "Sometimes, one needs something more than just the regular tea."

"You honor me with your generosity, Second Officer," the Captain replied, and took a sip from the tea.

"It is very good," he pronounced, echoing her smile as the tea soothed his stomach. "I hope we will not run out of it too soon. Cook's tea is not bad, but...well, it does not compare. Don't tell him that, of course; it's not his fault."

The Captain nodded and moved slightly to give Utsusemi a better look at the maps.

"With no landmarks at sea, and no inns or way stations to stop to ask for directions, it's more difficult to know exactly where one is," Keiji explained. "However, with our astronomical instruments we can use the inclination of the sun and stars to determine our exact latitude, which places us along a line, like so." He drew his finger along an east/west line on the chart. "We can estimate our progress towards our goal based on the wind speed and elapsed time." He tapped his finger at their current position on the map. Sadly, due to the winds dying down, this was not as far towards their ultimate goal as they had originally planned.

"Truthfully, this is First Officer's area of expertise as ship's Navigator, but a good Captain keeps aware of such things as well," Keiji said. "It's important for the purposes of planning and rationing and such. It wouldn't do to run out of tea, after all." He smiled slightly at that.

"It would be quite the dire situation to be in," she agreed with an almost jokingly grave tone.

Running out of tea was unacceptable.

She gave the maps a closer look. "Fascinating. I know travellers use the sun to determine west and east, as well as the stars to determine which way is north, but I had never heard of these lines before." While she was no sailor, she did show a keen interest in learning so far on the journey, and her ability to pick up things swiftly was so far favouring her.

Steering away from a question like 'how long until we reach our destination', as it would be quite... inappropriate, given the circumstances, Utsu opted instead for something less loaded. "What about dangers like reefs, or rocks? Are those marked here too?"

"Such things are more of a hazard nearer to shore," Keiji said. "There are a number of rocks and reefs near Dragon's Guard City, which are carefully marked on our charts. In deep waters such as here, though, they are not much of a concern."

"This will become more of an issue when we reach our destination," he added. "We don't have much information about the harbor there. It may become necessary to negotiate for a pilot to guide us in; or if this is not possible, extreme caution will be required while we chart the area."

"Ah, I see... that makes sense, considering how the bottom of the sea goes deeper down the further out you get," she nodded, "now I feel silly for not thinking of that sooner. Hm, it is certainly different from studying texts on ocean-landscape, and actually being out here. Thank you for the insight, Kitsu-kancho."

The side of her that worried about all the possibilities of what could go wrong, tried to remind her that if anything were to happen to Keiji or Berena, then she had to take charge. Oh no, no, no. That's not happening. Not on my watch.

Ringo comes onto the deck holding some sort of mechanical contraption in his hands. Spotting the captain and team mum he offers them polite bows. He remains silent so as to not interrupt their conversation.

"Some of the principles are the same, but it is quite different overall," Keiji admitted. "There, we were just sailing a tiny two-man boat, trying to go as fast as we could, and we never left sight of land. Kunshu Maru is a rather larger responsibility. Fortunately, I have you and the other officers to help."

Noticing Ringo's arrival, Keiji returned his bow and tried to include the big Crab in the conversation. "What do you think, Hida-san?" he asked. "You sailed with me in the Regatta, too. In what ways do you see sailing on Kunshu Maru as different?"

Ringo thinks for a moment before explaining. "Well this ship is much larger in comparison with a larger crew. The Shark Fin was still a completely Rokugani boat not designed to go for long duration out in the open sea. The Kunshu Maru takes a lot of principles that we learned from gaijin naval technology to create this ship. With it, we shall set off into parts unknown with the rest of the Imperial Explorers."

He gets into the more technical aspects of it for a while. Then a short pause before a light smile. "Though as long as we have Kitsu-kancho to lead us. The heart of the Shark Fin will live on in the Kunshu Maru. I look forward to the glory that this ship and her crew will attain for the Empire."

She nodded. "It seems we have a good crew," and she did mean both the sailors as well as the officers and command. Utsusemi had every faith in both Bellena and Keiji to see them safely to their destination.

"A good leader inspires those under his command to do their utmost. The Kunshu Maru is fortunate in that regard, with both you and Muhaki-san."

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